In the latter half of the 17th century, control of the river
valley passed back-and-forth between
Algonquian-speaking
Shawnee and the
Iroquois. By the time of the arrival of
French colonialists in the early 18th century, the Shawnee were once again in control and formed an alliance with France against attempts by colonists from
British North America to settle across the
Allegheny Mountains. The conflict over the expansion of Anglo-American settlement into the Allegheny Valley and the surrounding
Ohio Country was a primary cause of the
French and Indian War in the 1750s. During the war, the village of
Kittanning – the principal Shawnee settlement on the river – was completely destroyed during the
Kittanning Expedition, which saw 300
provincial troops from the
Province of Pennsylvania brutally attack the settlement. After gaining control of the area in the 1763
Treaty of Paris, the British kept the area closed to Anglo-American colonists, in part to repair and maintain relations with the Native Americans. After the
American Revolutionary War, the entire river valley became part of the new
United States, and U.S. settlers forcibly displaced the region's indigenous population. During the 19th century, the river became a principal means of navigation in the upper Ohio valley, especially for the transport of coal. Although the building of the railroads lessened the importance of the river somewhat, the lower river (navigable as far as
East Brady, Pennsylvania through locks) has continued to serve as a route of commercial transportation until the present day. In 1859, the first U.S. petroleum was drilled north of the river at
Titusville. One of the underlying premises of the
Genesee Valley Canal was its connection to the river, opening a trade route from
Rochester, New York to the west. The advent of the railroads obviated any interest Pennsylvania might have had in participating to improve navigation on the river. The canal was closed in 1877 and the right-of-way sold to the
Genesee Valley Canal Railroad. In 1965, the completion of the federally sponsored
Kinzua Dam for
flood-control in northwestern Pennsylvania east of Warren created the long
Allegheny Reservoir, known as Lake Perfidy among the Seneca, part of which is included in the
Allegheny National Recreation Area. The dam flooded parts of lands deeded "forever" to the
Seneca Nation of Indians by the 1794
Treaty of Canandaigua, and lands given to
Cornplanter and his descendants. The event was described in the
Johnny Cash song "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" from the 1964 album
Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, which focused on the history of and problems facing Native Americans in the United States. The construction of the dam and the filling of the Allegheny Reservoir also necessitated the elimination of the small village of
Corydon, which was located at the confluence of Willow Creek with the Allegheny River; and the small village of
Kinzua, which was located at the confluence of Kinzua Creek with the Allegheny River. All residents of both villages were forced to move. and
Allegheny Reservoir Many prominent individuals opposed the construction of the dam at that time because of the damage it would do to Seneca lands, including Pennsylvania Congressman
John P. Saylor of
Johnstown, and
Howard Zahniser, executive director of
The Wilderness Society and native of Tionesta—a small settlement located along the Allegheny River several miles downstream from Warren. During the campaign for the
1960 United States presidential election,
John F. Kennedy assured the Seneca Nation that he would oppose the dam if elected. However, he failed to follow through on his pledge upon becoming president. In 1992, of the Allegheny River was designated
Wild and Scenic. This designation comprises three segments of the river located in
Warren,
Forest, and
Venango counties. The Allegheny River was designated River of the Year by the Pennsylvania Organization for Rivers & Watersheds in 1994, 2017, and 2024. ==In popular culture==